1978 IN FILM

The year '1978 in film' involved some significant events.

Contents

Top grossing films

Events

Awards

Films released in 1978

Births

Deaths

Top grossing films

:North America
# ''Superman: The Movie''
# ''Grease'', starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
# ''Saturday Night Fever'', starring John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney
# ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''
# ''Animal House'', starring John Belushi
# ''Jaws 2''
# ''Heaven Can Wait''
# ''The Goodbye Girl''
# ''
# ''Hooper''
# ''Foul Play''
# ''Revenge of the Pink Panther''

Events

★ February 1 - Bob Dylan's film ''Renaldo and Clara'', a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California.

★ March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial.

★ March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for ''.

★ June 4 - ''Grease'', starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, has its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

★ September - George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch.

★ November 17 - ''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming sequel.

★ The first Sundance Film Festival is held.

Awards

'Academy Awards:'
:Best Picture: '''The Deer Hunter''' - EMI Films/Cimino, Universal
:Best Director: 'Michael Cimino' - ''The Deer Hunter''
:Best Actor: 'Jon Voight' - ''Coming Home''
:Best Actress: 'Jane Fonda' - ''Coming Home''
:Best Supporting Actor: 'Christopher Walken' - ''The Deer Hunter''
:Best Supporting Actress: 'Maggie Smith' - ''California Suite''
:Best Foreign Language Film: '''Get Out Your Handkerchiefs''' (''Preparez vos mouchoirs''), directed by Bertrand Blier, France
'Golden Globe Awards:'
:'Drama:'
:Best Picture: '''Midnight Express'''
:Best Actor: 'Jon Voight' - ''Coming Home''
:Best Actress: 'Jane Fonda' - ''Coming Home''
:'Musical or comedy:'
:Best Picture: '''Heaven Can Wait'''
:Best Actor: 'Warren Beatty' - ''Heaven Can Wait''
:Best Actress (tie): 'Ellen Burstyn' - ''Same Time, Next Year''
:Best Actress (tie): 'Maggie Smith' - ''California Suite''
:'Other'
:Best Director: 'Michael Cimino' - ''The Deer Hunter''
:Best Foreign Language Film: '''Autumn Sonata''', Sweden
'Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):'
:'''The Tree of Wooden Clogs''' (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy
'Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):'
:'''Trout''' (''Las Truchas''), directed by José Luis García Sánchez, Spain
:'''What Max Said''' (''Las Palabras de Max''), directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro, Spain

Films released in 1978

★ ''Almost Summer

★ '', directed by Martin Scorsese (documentary)

★ ''Animal House''

★ ''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes''

★ ''Autumn Sonata''

★ ''The Bad News Bears Go to Japan''

★ ''Battlestar Galactica'' (Canada and most European countries only; released in U.S. theatres the following year)

★ ''The Betsy

★ ''The Boys from Brazil''

★ ''Bread and Chocolate''

★ ''The Buddy Holly Story''

★ ''Bye Bye Monkey''

★ ''La Cage aux Folles''

★ ''California Suite''

★ ''China 9, Liberty 37''

★ ''Comes a Horseman''

★ ''Coming Home''

★ '', starring William Holden

★ ''Dawn of the Dead'' (Italy)

★ ''Days of Heaven''

★ ''Death on the Nile''

★ ''The Deer Hunter''

★ ''Enter the Fat Dragon'' starring Sammo Hung

★ ''Every Which Way But Loose''

★ ''Fingers (1978 film)''

★ ''F.I.S.T.''

★ ''Foul Play''

★ ''The Fury (film)'', starring Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving.

★ ''Get Out Your Handkerchiefs'' (''Preparez vos mouchoirs''), aka ''Get Your Handkerchiefs Ready''

★ ''Girlfriends'', Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner

★ ''Grease''

★ ''Halloween'', starring Jamie Lee Curtis

★ ''Harper Valley PTA''

★ ''Heaven Can Wait''

★ ''Hooper''

★ ''Interiors''

★ ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'', remake of 1956 movie

★ ''International Velvet''

★ ''Jaws 2''

★ ''Lady on the Bus

★ ''The Last Waltz'', directed by Martin Scorsese

★ ''The Late Great Planet Earth'' -(film only mentioned in article)

★ ''The Lord of the Rings,'' animated film by Ralph Bakshi

★ ''Max's Words'' Golden Bear winner -(not found in searches under this title)

★ ''Midnight Express''

★ ''Pretty Baby''

★ ''Renaldo and Clara''

★ ''Return of Captain Nemo, The''

★ ''Revenge of the Pink Panther''

★ ''The Star Wars Holiday Special''

★ ''Stevie'' (the 1978 film, there is also Stevie the 2002 film)

★ ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''

★ ''Superman: The Movie'', starring Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve

★ ''The Swarm''

★ ''The Tree of Wooden Clogs'' Palme d'Or winner

★ ''Las Truchas'' (''The Trout'') Golden Bear winner

★ ''The Small One''

★ ''Two Solitudes''

★ ''An Unmarried Woman''

★ ''You Are Not Alone''

Births

★ June 1 - Danielle Harris, voice actress in The Wild Thornberrys

★ November 9 - Sisqó, singer/actor/songwriter

★ December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, actor

★ December 18 - Katie Holmes, actress

Deaths

★ January 5 - Sally Eilers, actress

★ January 29 - Tim McCoy, cowboy actor, soldier

★ March 24 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction writer

★ August 24 - Louis Prima, bandleader, voice actor ("King Louie of the Apes" in ''The Jungle Book'')

★ August 26 - Charles Boyer, actor

★ August 28 - Robert Shaw, actor

★ September 9 - Jack Warner, Hollywood studio founder

★ September 30 - Edgar Bergen, actor

★ October 16 - Dan Dailey, actor

★ October 19 - Gig Young, actor